Starlight Dreams
by Aquile Storm
Summary: Rukia has a nightmare and now she can't sleep. Also, it looks like neither Ichigo could either. Both go out to get some fresh air... and it seems they got more than that. Much more. [IchiRuki]


Disclaimer: Kubo-sensei's

**Starlight Dreams**

"Thank you Rukia for everything you have done. Thank you. But I'm sorry, Rukia. Goodbye." And he sped off in the opposite direction of her. Why did he say that? She didn't know.

"Ichigo, wait!" Rukia ran off to catch up with Ichigo and after what seemed like so long, Ichigo finally stopped with a halt. But as she looked around, suddenly and yet slowly, everything turned black and endless. "Ichigo…"

"Nice to see you again, Kuchiki." She knew that voice…

"Aizen." Rukia turned to him, a bit surprised that he was suddenly there. She saw him smile. Rukia was in her shinigami form so she unsheathed her zanpakutou and pointed at him. "What do you want?!"

The former captain said, "I don't think you want to do that, Kuchiki…Why don't you just point that zanpakutou to Kurosaki there." He smirked. She frowned. "Rukia…" She heard Ichigo called her, she faced him. Suddenly, Rukia couldn't move for a second and then, against her will, Rukia pointed Shirayuki at him. Her eyes changed from beautiful midnight blue to ebony black. She ran towards Ichigo. Her body still went forward even if her mind said that she must stop. Rukia couldn't control herself; it was like she was hypnotized. When she was in front of him, Rukia shoved her zanpakutou towards Ichigo, but Ichigo dodged it with Zangetsu. She tried to attack him multiple times, but he defended the attacks with his zanpakutou.

"Rukia! What the hell're you doing?! Snap out of it!" He yelled as he dodged another of her careless attacks.

"Why don't you attack her, Kurosaki?" Aizen's voice was heard

Ichigo jumped back. "No… I cannot hurt her. I…" Ichigo dropped Zangetsu. It fell on the dark ground with a perceptible _clang. _Rukia shunpo-ed towards Ichigo. Rukia tried to fight back her body's movements but unfortunately, failed. With her zanpakutou in her hands, she stabbed Shirayuki through Ichigo. Right after that moment, Rukia felt like she could control herself again. She was back to normal.

Weakened, Ichigo collapsed onto her shoulder, and she supported his weight. On her hands was blood. _His_ blood. Tears welled up in her eyes. "No…Ichigo…No!!" The tears streamed down onto her pale cheeks. She held him tighter, but Rukia couldn't do anything about it. Nightmares of Kaien-dono came back to her, but this time it wasn't her fuku-taichou; it was Ichigo.

"Ichigo! No! Please don't die! Please…Ichigo!"

* * *

"Ichigo!" Rukia sat up straight in the small space in her closet. Her breathing was heavy, her heart pounding and cold sweat was on her forehead. Her eyes wide from the fear of the previous nightmare. She slid the closet door slightly and saw Ichigo on his bed. The covers of his blanket rose and fell in rhythm of his calm breathing. 

_He's okay…he's safe…It was just a nightmare, a horrible nightmare._

Rukia tried to sleep, but when her head hit the soft pillow, the atrocious image of the earlier nightmare came about. She couldn't sleep. _I need fresh air…_ Rukia jumped down from her closet and landed on the floor of Ichigo's room. She walked slowly to the door and opened the door. As she opened the door, Rukia heard Ichigo say, "Rukia? Where are you going?"

"Ichigo! You startled me! I'm going out to get some fresh air. I…can't sleep." She wasn't going to tell Ichigo about the nightmare she just had. "Weren't you asleep?"

"I wasn't." He answered simply and shrugs. He got up from his bed. "C'mon, I'll follow you."

They went out of the house quietly, not wanting to wake up Yuzu or Karin or Isshin. After taking their jackets, they went out. The April night air was cool and refreshing. The usual blow of the wind was soothing. Other than Ichigo and Rukia, the streets of Karakura was deserted but brightly lit by the street lamps. Nothing was heard except the sound of their footsteps.

Obviously, not liking the silence, Ichigo said, "So… why were you in my room just now?"

"I…um… Kon was snoring, so I came there so that I can sleep." She told him a half-truth. Well, yes Kon did snore. And a very loud sleeper he was. But there was another reason why she came to his room. She liked to sleep in that poky closet better than in the twins' room and somehow she kinda liked being with him.

"_Yeahh…_and you could always sleep with the snoring Kon when you first came here?"

"I couldn't sleep so well." Then, she didn't say anything else. Instead, they both walked on in silence. Rukia seemed to be okay with the hush, but Ichigo felt a bit uncomfortable with it. Whenever he was with Rukia, there was usually something they were both talking about. Or at least fight about.

Rukia rubbed both of her hands together to have some warmth. The wind was soothing but it was still quite cold. Ichigo saw she do this a couple of times already. Rukia put her hands at her sides for around 30 seconds then rubbed them together again. Obviously annoyed, Ichigo said, "Could you stop doing that Rukia? It's freakin' annoying!" Yup, annoyed alright.

She crossed her arms in irritation. "What the heck am I supposed to do? I am _cold_ you know." She smirked. "Sheesh, Ichigo you get annoyed at every single little thing." She rubbed her hands again just to annoy him. It was always fun to see Ichigo being so aggravated. Irritated, Ichigo took her left hand in his right one and stuffed them both into his front jacket pocket. Rukia was a bit surprised at this response; she was expecting something more of like a shout or a glare from him. Definitely _not _this.

She tried to muster a glare but somehow, she couldn't. Maybe it was because she was blushing. Besides, Ichigo's hands were warm and she liked it. Ichigo did not look at Rukia; he was trying to hide that slight blush that was creeping up. It didn't work anyway, Rukia saw it, and she smiled softly. It's not often that she sees him blush.

* * *

They walked and both ended up at Karakura Park. The lamps there weren't as bright as the street lights. The lights went through translucent glass, making the glow dimmer. The air was still cool there, but both didn't mind the temperature so much. As they trudged on the green dew-lined grass Rukia said, "Let's sit down for a while, Ichigo." He shrugs. He sat under a tree nearest to them. 

"_Under _a tree? That is so boring. C'mon, let's climb up this tree!" Rukia said as she stepped on the lowest branch on the tree. "It's been a long time since I climbed one."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just sit _under_ than to climb _up_ a tree?" Ichigo really didn't feel like climbing something now. "Ey, Rukia are you listening?" Rukia was already three-quarters way up. "Idiot…"he mumbled.

"Are you just lazy or is it that you don't know how to climb a tree?" Rukia said when she was up on the tree, sitting on the biggest branch. She smirked. "Do you need help Mr-I-am-a-big-stong-shinigami-who-dosen't-know-how-to-climb-trees?" She said in a mocking tone.

"Hell yeah, I can climb." Ichigo ascended the tree and sat beside Rukia, sitting close. "See. Plus, I can climb faster than you. 'Cause you are so short." He patted her head like a puppy. But unlike a puppy, Rukia hates to be patted. Rukia brushed his hand off roughly and hit his head in irritation, hard.

"Idiot."

Neither speaks for awhile. The trees waved gently, whispering soft secrets to one another. The rustle of leaves around them were calming and tranquil. Then Ichigo spoke up. He points out the Great Bear and the Little Bear. "See those bright starts along the tail of the Great Bear," He says softly. Rukia nodded. "Like a saucepan with a crooked handle? That's the Big Dipper, they point to a big bright start at the tip of the Little Bear's tail. That's the Pole Star. You can see it anywhere in the northern hemisphere. Anywhere…" Her grip tightened around his hand as she smiled lightly.

"Even in Soul Society?"

He ran a hand through his bright hair. "Ah… That… I don't know."

"If there was…I will look at it every night when I'm in Soul Society to remind me of…yo- the time I spent here in Earth." She meant to say 'you' but she didn't want to sound stupid in front of him. He smiled. Ichigo knew what she meant. She leaned her head on Ichigo's shoulder. He didn't mind at all. She couldn't stifle back a yawn. It was nice being there with him, watching the stars. She closed her eyes, letting them rest for a while.

Ichigo looked at his glow-in-the-dark watch. 12:17 am. _We should go back already._ Ichigo glanced at Rukia who was already sleeping softly. _Maybe just for another while._ He took off his grip from a Rukia's hand and puts his arm around the sleeping girl. He swings his legs over the edge of the branch, enjoying the moment he has with Rukia that night.

Moments later, he woke her up. "Rukia, eh, Rukia." He shook her gently. Rukia started to stir. "Hmm? What is it?"

"It's 12:20. We should go back home." He said as he jumped down the tree. Rukia looked confused but then she remembered that she was stargazing with Ichigo just now. She jumped down.

"I'm so sleepy." The black haired shinigami rubbed her eyes. To Ichigo, she looked really cute when she does that. He ran a hand through his hair. She does look so sleepy, like she could doze off right there, on the dew-lined grass. He crouched down.

"C'mon Rukia," He said. Rukia gave him a questioning look. "You look really tired, so I'm giving you a ride home. I _don't _want to have you sleeping on the ground." Rukia hesitated at first, but then she _was_ tired. And there's no negative things on being able to hug Ichigo. She put her arms around his neck and Ichigo took her shoes off. "Hey, Ichigo! Gimme back my shoes."

"No. It's gonna be really hard to take them off when you're already asleep. And I'm not keen on having shoe marks all over my room."

She was too tired to object anymore. Rukia let her head rest on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He started walking back home, carrying Rukia while holding her shoes in his lest hand. He could feel her calm breaths on his neck. He knew she had a nightmare before. Ichigo tried to wake her up, but it didn't work. That was the real reason why he didn't sleep. He knew she would wake up sometime and he would be there for her.

* * *

Ichigo finally reached his room, he slid open the closet door with his foot. No use, the place where Rukia sleeps was too ascended. He couldn't put her in the closet without hitting her head on the wall. He saw his bed. _Just for tonight._ Ichigo put Rukia on his bed, nearest to the wall and he laid back next to her. "Thank you…Ichigo…" Her sweet voice was heard clearly in the silence of the night. 

Sitting up, he turned to her. "You were awake?"

Smirking, she nodded. "The whole time." He glared at her. "Hey, you were the one who offered me the ride. I just accepted it." She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Well, I'll be going back to the twins' room now." She hopped off the bed. Rukia only walked a step when she felt his hand wrapping her wrist. She stopped walking.

"You can stay here, if you like…"

"You mean in the closet?"

"No, I mean here…" He blushed. That didn't sound good. "Or the closet would be okay too, if you want, that is."

She smiled and laid back on Ichigo's bed. She lies close to him. She feels safe when she is around him. "Thank you Ichigo…" She whispers to his ear. "…for an amazing night." Her lips lightly touch his cheek. And Ichigo raises a hand to touch the spot on his cheek where her lips had been just a moment ago. He looks over his shoulder. Rukia smiled in her sleep.

What she said was true… it _had_ been an amazing night…

* * *

Right, another oneshot from me :P…Hope the dream part was okay… Meh, I can't write angst-y stuff. XP Well, anyway this idea came about when I saw a picture of Ichigo giving Rukia a piggyback ride. Also, if I made any mistakes please tell me…I didn't check this thoroughly yet. 

**Reviews, pretty please?**


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